Exploring the worlds of food and drink in Essex and beyond.

An ode to avocadoes

Oh avocado, let me count the ways. My love is by no means new, but it is most definitely growing by the day. The silky, soft texture is a delight on the palate. Sometimes sweet and always buttery: it never fails to make me smile. No matter how it’s served, whether in a sandwich or salad, hot or cold, it’s all good. I’m not fussy.

So, I thought I’d share some of my favourite combos with you… If you’re not already on the bandwagon, hopefully one of these ideas will persuade you!

1) Use slices of avocado to take a humble bacon sandwich from simply ordinary to divine… The saltiness of bacon is the perfect match for the creaminess of avocado. I would suggest some yummy spelt or granary bread (preferably homemade or from a nice bakery) or some crusty white, spread with REAL butter with half an avocado sliced up plus 2-3 rashers of smoked sweet cure bacon. Perfection.
2) GUACAMOLE – not the weird processed stuff in a jar or a bottle, but the real, delicious, homemade concoction that takes about 5 minutes to knock up. You can use a pestle and mortar, blender or just chop into cubes, mash half and stir the other half through (if you like it chunky, otherwise mash it all up, using a fork). Any combination of ingredients can be added, depending on your personal preference. I like a lot of chili, garlic, coriander, pepper, spring onions and sometimes diced tomatoes too. It’s so good for you and goes with so many things, why not try it with fish tacos or pulled pork and a bowl of slaw.
3) Baked. Yes, that’s right baked. It’s not something I’ve tried many times, but it is delish. Scoop out the flesh mix with ingredients of your choosing (unsurprisingly bacon featured in my trial), scatter with some cheese et voila. Half each with a little salad is a great starter – and it may be something your guests haven’t tried before!
4) On toast. One of the quickest and most filling breakfasts of all time. You can either baked the avocado and spread it on, or my preferred method is to roughly mash half an avocado onto a piece of top, squeeze over some lemon, plus tobasco and black pepper. Perfect, every time.
5) This list wouldn’t be complete without my ultimate favourite – avocado plus eggs; whether poached, scrambled or fried. It simply doesn’t matter. A bit of tobasco or cayenne and some black pepper doesn’t go amiss, whatever way you choose to do your eggs.

And one that I will hopefully soon be adding to this list is raw chocolate mousse… Yep avocadoes can even be used to make vegan (healthy!!) desserts. The recipe I intend to use is from Honestly Healthy, which is an alkaline diet and one of the most interesting food books – I couldn’t recommend it more!

So, there you have it. Avocadoes are simply amazing; if you’re not already a fan, try something different… you may just be converted.